the john muir exhibit - bibliographic_resources - john_muir_bibliography - periodicals
Periodicals and Notable Recent Articles from Periodicals
John Muir Newsletter
- Including links to feature articles
Contents - Including links to PDF files of selected back issues
Published by the
John Muir Center for Environmental Studies
This newsletter provides news, analysis, and book reviews relating to the life and legacy of John Muir.
"The View From John Muir's Window"
(off-site link)
The newsletter of the
John Muir Memorial Association
(off-site link)
This newsletter, published since 1972, includes descriptions of various aspects of John Muir's life, occasional letters and comments by Muir or his contemporaries, and current news relating to the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez.
Sierra Club Bulletin John Muir Memorial Number
Volume 10, Number 1, January 1916
This special issue of the Sierra Club Bulletin, published shortly after Muir's death, contains many informative essays and tributes by people who knew him.
The Pacific Historian, The World of John Muir (Stockton: Holt-Atherton Pacific Center for Western Studies,
University of the Pacific,
1981).
A fine collection of scholarly essays with historical photos and sketches,
by several notable Muir experts.
An illustrated book jacket summary (from the book's front matter), including the table of contents and author biographies is available.
The Pacific Historian, John Muir: Life and Legacy (Stockton: Holt-Atherton Center for Western Studies,
Univ. of the Pacific 1985).
This publications consists of twelve papers among 25 presented at a major conference held in 1985 at the University of the Pacific,
Stockton, CA.
Many of them broke new ground in Muir historiography by utilizing scholarly resources in the Muir-Hanna family collection at the University of the Pacific that had not been accessible before.
Chronicling America - Historic American Newspapers (1777-1963) - U.S. Library of Congress. Use their search engine to discover hundreds of historical articles about John Muir.
Articles
Anonymous,
"The Wildflowers of Mr. Muir."
Sunset
Vol. 200, No. 3, (March 01, 1998), p. 82.
Photographs with Muir quotes of three spots in California that bloom as
gloriously as they did in John Muir's time.
Arden, Harvey,
"John Muir's Wild America"
National Geographic
(April, 1973)
Photographs by Dewitt Jones accompany this account of Muir and the places he
loved. The National Geographic Society subsequently published a book, in 1976,
with the same title, by Tom Melham, Photographs by Farrell Grehan.
Brock, Mary Jane,
"Sierra Prelude: Muir and LeConte in the South"
Sierra Club Bulletin
March, 1976.
An essay pointing out that although founded in California, the Sierra Club has
roots in the Deep South, in the persons of Muir, who made A Thousand Mile Walk
to the Gulf, and Joseph LeConte, a Georgian who became a noted geologist and
colleague of Muir in the Sierra Club.
Dosch, Arno, "The Mystery of John Muir's Money: A Simple Naturalist's Studies in the Temple of Mammon," Sunset, 1916, pg. 20 et seq. (PDF)
(public domain)
Downing, Kevin J., "John Muir: Saving Yosemite"
Scholastic Update,
v. 126: no. 13, p. 15.
1994 April 15.
An overview of John Muir and his efforts to persuade President Theodore Roosevelt to protect Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy, and the Giant Sequoias.
Fleck, Richard F., "John Muir's Evolving Attitudes toward Native American
Cultures"
American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1978), pp. 19-31.
Reviews
how Muir's early fears of Native Americans was replaced by great appreciation
when coming to know the Natives of Alaska.
Gillis, Michael J., "John Muir and the Bidwells: The Forgotten Friendship"
Dogtown Territorial Quarterly
,
Spring, 1995,
No. 21,
pp. 4-5, 18-23, 26, 31. Reprinted by John Muir Center for Regional Studies, in "John Muir Newsletter, Spring 1996."
A fascinating article about the 37-year friendship between John Muir
and the Bidwell family of Chico, California,
where the Bidwell Mansion is today a State Historic Park.
Hebert, Sandra, "Wild at Heart: Nature and John Muir"
Cascade Crest
(Newsletter of the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter)
(May/June, 1991)
A nicely written summation of Muir's life.
Heidig, Edward G., "Reflecting the Muir Image"
Parks and Recreation
Vol. 29, no. 3, p. 40. 1994 March 03
An essay arguing that Muir was a pragmatic conservationist, not just an idealistic environmentalist,
and that Muir's philospohies can be incorporated into modern environmental challenges, creating solutions
that balance environmental protection with economic prosperity. The author applies this specifically to
the goals and programs of the California Department of Conservation.
Holliday, J.S., "The Politics of John Muir"
Sierra Club Bulletin
Vol. 57: pp. 10-13 (Oct.-Nov. 1972).
An essay about Muir as an educator and propagandist, an advocate seeing to
influence public thinking and political decisions. The author points out how his "words fire the energy and the conviction of the ecologists of the 1970's... John Muir's record of fighting for our wilderness reminds us today that in our own ways, with our own voices and pens, we can each serve as a John Muir...
Holmes, Steve, "Blessed Home: Nature, Religion, Science, and Human Relationship in the Early
Life of John Muir," doctoral dissertation 6/96. See
American Quarterly
(Vol. 48, Issue 4, p. 761.)
Huber, J. Parker, "John
Muir's Menu,"
Sierra
(Vol. 79, Issue 6, p. 66, Nov/Dec 1994.)
A light-hearted musing of our naturalist's famously spare diet while in the
wilderness. With spiritual beauty bread, who needs trail mix?
Hunt, Rockwell J. California Mountain Men of Another Breed, The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3 (September,1952), pp. 213-228. Available on Jstor.
An essay by an eminent early California historian, comparing Muir and other California mountaineeers as a new breed of "mountain man" - not trappers and explorers as their forebears in the Rockies, but climbers and explorers of the natural world to expand scientific understanding.
Leighly, John, John Muir's Image of the West in Annals of the Association
of American Geographers Vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 309-318. (December 1958).
Available on jstor.org. An early analytical study of Muir's life and writings, presented as an Address by the honorary president of the Association of American Geographers at its 54th annual meeting, Santa Monica, California, August 21, 1958.
Leshuk, Dave,
"John Muir's
Wisconsin Days:
The Naturalist's Wisconsin roots anchored his later actions"
Wisconsin Natural Resources
(Vol. 12, No. 3, May/June 1988).
Describes the importance of the Wisconsin influence
on Muir's philosophy and actions,
belying the common misconception of Muir as important only for Californians.
Limbaugh, Ronald H.,
"John Muir and Modern Environmental Education"
California History
(Vol. 71, No. 2, Summer, 1992).
Thoughts on what environmental educators can learn from John Muir
in a modern world fraught with environmental problems,
including a description of six "rules" for environmental education,
derived from the life and writings of John Muir,
written by a Professor of History and the
Director of the
John Muir Center for Regional Studies
at the
University of the Pacific.
.
Limbaugh, Ronald H., "John Muir and the Mining Industry,"
Mining History Journal 3 (1996), 61-66.
Macfarlane, Robert, "Where the wild things are," - Acclaimed British writer Robert Macfarlane salutes
the brilliant nature writing of John Muir - tramp, botanist, geologist,
mountaineer and visionary environmental activist, UK Guardian,
October 30, 2004 .
Martin, Michelle, "Who Was John Muir?"
Hi Sierran
(Newsletter of the Sierra Club San Diego Chapter)
(April, 1991)
A short introduction to Muir, with an interesting black and white sketch Muir
portrait.
McKibbin, Bill,
"The Walk that Changed America"
Conde Nast Traveler
(Vol. 30, No. 9, pg. 132. 14 pp., Photos: 17 color, 1 black and
white.
A wonderful description of Muir's 1,000 mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico as it
was in Muir's time and as it is today. Beautiful color photography highlights
this piece, as does a poignant listing of endangered species in the region compiled from the
U.S. Biological Service.
Meyer, John M.,
"Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, and the Boundaries of Politics in American Thought,"
Polity
(Vol. 30, No. 2, Winter 1997), p. 267.
Moore, Phawnda, The Poet who saved John Muir's Home [Faire Sax]- 4 March 2022 (off-site link)
Orsi, Richard,
"Wilderness Saint" and "Robber Baron: The Anomalous Partnership of John Muir and
the Southern Pacific Company for the Preservation ofYosemite National Park,"
Pacific Historian
(Vol. 29, (2-3): 136-56 (1985)).
Parshall, Gerald, "A Knight in the Wilderness:
Sierra Club founder John Muir launched a movement a century ago"
2 pp.
U.S. News and World Report
,
July 20, 1992
Recognizing the Centennial of the Sierra Club,
an outstanding brief article showing the importance of Muir
to the modern environmental movement.
Perrottet, Tony, John
Muir's Yosemite: The father of the conservation movement
found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness
Smithsonian, July 2008
Evocative article describing Muir's special involvement in Yosemite, with many
quotes from Muir experts like Bonnie Gisel, curator of the Sierra Club's
LeConte Memorial Lodge.
Peterson, Robert,
"John Muir: Protector of the Wilderness"
Boy's Life
Vol. 84, (February 1, 1994) p. 28.
A short introduction, with photographs, for young readers
Scott, Phyllis, "John Muir National Historic Site,"
Travel Holiday
(Vol. 179, Issue 4, P. 17, May, 1996).
Smith, Michael L.,
"Clarence King and John Muir: Ways of Seeing Mountains"
The Californians
(March/April 1990), p. 36.
An analysis of the differing perspectives of two noted mountaineers. King
had a macho style, while Muir emphasized nature's harmony and benevolence.
Smith, Michael B., "The Value of a tree: public devates of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot"
The Historian
Vol. 60, no. 4, p. 757 (June 22 1998)
Scholarly article exploring the debates early in the 20th century between John Muir and Gifford Pinchot.
who had differing views about US natural resources. Muir was an environmentalist who saw the
wilderness as
a refuge against the ills of modern society, while Pinchot regarded conservation as a
means to retain the economic value of natural resources. Muir helped establish a system of
national parks, while Pinchot's policies helped private interests to log public lands.
Solomons, Theodore S.,
"The Muir of the '90s"
The Californians
(March/April 1990) p. 42.
The author of this essay was the founder of what became the John Muir Trail
along the crest of the Sierra. The essay gives Solomon's first-hand account of meeting Muir in the
1890s at Sierra Club meetings and in visits to Muir's Martinez ranch.
Stanley, Millie,
"John Muir in Wisconsin,"
Pacific Historian
Vol. 29 (2-3): 7-15 (1985).
Steinhart, Peter,
"Place as Purpose: Muir's Sierra"
Orion
(Autumn 1988).
Noting that Muir set forth the terms by which we tend to think today of the
Sierra Nevada, this essay explores the reasons that Muir's writing still has
such influence a century after publication.
Sweet, Adolph D., "Meeting John Muir in King's Canyon"
Los Tulares, Tulare County Historical Bulletin
(September, 1952)
and reprinted in
Valley Voice
(August, 1983)
A first-hand account by a Visalia resident recounting his encounters with Muir
beginning in 1890. Muir had some rather uncomplimentary things to say about
the camping abilities of artist Charles Dorman Robinson and mountaineer Theodore
Solomons. (Robinsonm, in turn, wrote a scathing - and hilarious - criticism of his Kings
Canyon camping and painting trip with Muir in an unpublished manuscript on file in the "C.D. Robinson Collection" at the California Deparmtne of Parks and Recreation in Sacramento, "An Incident Which Befell John Muir and Myself."
Tam, David,
"John Muir for Our Time"
Yodeler
(Newsletter of Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter)
(April, 1988)
An essay positing Muir as a "radical amateur" who was one of the first
biocentrist thinker-activists, who struggled with some of the same issues -
e.g., balancing family life and political activism - as activists struggle with
today.
Weber, Catherine E. Forrest, "A Genius in the Best Sense: John Muir, Earth, and Indianapolis,"
Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
(Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 36-47, Winter 1993)
A review of Muir's life, with a focus on his early
inventions and his time spent in Indiana, including his
friendships with Catherine Moores and her nephew Merrill
Moores. An industrial accident in an Indianapolis carriage-parts factory was the pivotal
event that changed Muir's life. Nicely illustrated with Muir portraits and his
drawings of inventions. The issue of Traces
that includes this article is available as a back issue from
the Indiana Historical Society, 315 W. Ohio St.,
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3299; or by calling 1-800-IHS-1830.
Williams, Dennis, "John Muir and an Evangelical Vision for Western Natural Resources
Management,"
Journal of the West
(Vol. 35, Issue 3, p. 53, 8 pp. 3 bw, July, 1996)
Wilson, James, "John Muir: The Father of Conservation"
The Highlander - The Magazine of Scottish Heritage
(Vol. 26, No. 2, March/April, 1988) (Mailing address: P.O. Box 397, Barrington,
IL 60010)
The author recounts how appreciation about Muir has grown in Scotland since the
1979 National Library of Scotland Exhibition about John Muir, and describes
Muir's birthplace in Dunbar, Scotland and the story of Muir's eventful life.
Wood, Harold, "Pantheist Prophets: John Muir 1838-1914"
Pantheist Vision
(Vol. 9, No. 2, April, 1988) (A special issue on John Muir.) Available from
Universal Pantheist
Society
, P.O. Box 265, Big Pine, CA 93513.
A review of the debate among Muir scholars about whether Muir was a pantheist
or retained a Christian philosophy. The author argues that the true genius of
Muir's religious thought is that it is something which transcends labels and
encourages an universal sense of reverence for the earth.
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